Woodridge sweeps Metro at PTC Championship Meet

Saturday

RANDOLPH — There were thoughts the Bulldogs girls could be taken down this year.

Not Saturday, as Izzy Best and Libby Howard landed a 1-2 punch across the finish line, leading Woodridge to a Metro title, with a five-point margin over Cloverleaf.

The boys had no such drama.

Woodridge won the Metro by 47 points — with all five scorers in the top seven. That included champion Micah Blair, with a devastating kick to finish in 15:15.4.

"He’s running with some confidence," Bulldogs coach Jeff Howard said. "He had a really good workout Thursday and Max Gucker is a great kid and a great runner and him beating Max like that, Max has won a lot of invitationals, so Micah’s running as well as he’s ever run."

The Bulldogs also landed Saturday’s third- and fourth-place finishers in Ryan Champa and Zayd Elkurd, respectively.

Even that doesn’t do the Bulldogs boys justice.

Of the first 14 runners to cross the finish line — regardless of who counted toward a team’s score — 10 stemmed from the school bordering Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Howard said his boys are so deep the school could possibly field two state-qualifying teams. Instead, he has to make some difficult choices this week, picking the seven runners he will have compete at next weekend’s district meet.

"The girls are pretty clean," Howard said. "We have our seven or eight for the girls, but the guys, it’s a mess, so we’re going to have to sit down some really good kids."

Making his way into a pack of maroon was Field senior Cory Fetterhoff, who achieved his goal with a fifth-place finish. Fetterhoff previously aimed to get in front of Woodridge’s fifth runner to avoid a dual meet sweep. Saturday, he aimed to also get in front of Woodridge’s fourth — and did so with his time of 15:44.1.

"That was the plan today and we went out and tried to get fifth and that’s what we came home with," Fetterhoff said.

Meanwhile, the Falcons girls, while they couldn’t quite upset the Bulldogs, took third — and landed a pair of top-five finishes from Eliana Smith (4th, 19:06.4) and Amanda Stayer (5th, 19:07.7).

"(Stayer) has been the most consistent senior captain I’ve had in a long time," Field coach Ed Conroy said. "Every workout she’s there, every race but one she’s run at a level that’s very, very high for her and her heart is just about cross country. She loves her team, she loves the sport and anything she gets, including first team, is well deserved so I’m very happy for her."

Conroy said he was also pleased with Hannah Strott, also a soccer player, who finished 13th with a 19:52.7.

Meanwhile, Field freshman Taylor Bish continued to impress with her 16th-place finish of 20:02.1.

Perhaps most impressive, Stayer, on two separate occasions, looked behind her to make sure the younger Smith stayed with her.

"I saw her at two different places where Eliana started dropping off from her shoulder a little and Amanda said, ‘Get up here with me,’ and encouraged her in a positive way," Conroy said. "That’s the kind of girl she is. She’s running the PTC (meet) and she wants first team and she’s already still including or knowing her teammate is with her. She’s just a team girl. She’s all about team. The girls love her. I can’t ask for anything more than the way she’s led this team this year."

Julia Laudato led Streetsboro with her 15th-place finish of 19:59.5 — while Ravenna’s sole runner, Azsah Bradley, finished in 21:22.8.

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